Myriam Heiman stands along the blue glassy windows of the Reading Terrace in MIT's Building 46
May 26, 2026
Myriam Heiman named the director of The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
On a black background a spiny section of a neural dendrite is outlined in white. Within the outline numerous little white dots indicate the actual dendrite within the outline.
May 14, 2026
The rules neurons follow to make sense of what we see
A microscope view of several worms wriggling through a red-hued gel
April 20, 2026
How neurons sense bacteria in the gut
Three views of an organoid cell culture show the constiuent cells of the vaguely round, tangled mass of cells.  In the different views the cells are highlighted in different colors such as magenta and green.
April 14, 2026
Rett syndrome study highlights potential for personalized treatments
A video screenshot shows a grayscale worm twisting its body around in a loop to change direction
April 10, 2026
With navigating nematodes, scientists map out how brains implement behaviors

RNA editing study finds many ways for neurons to diversify

November 20, 2025
Research Findngs
When MIT neurobiologists tracked how more than 200 motor neurons in fruit flies each edited their RNA, they cataloged hundreds of target sites and widely varying editing rates. Scores of edits altered proteins involved in neural communication and function

MIT study shows how vision can be rebooted in adults with amblyopia

November 19, 2025
Research Findngs
Temporarily anesthetizing the retina briefly reverts the activity of the visual system to that observed in early development and enables growth of responses to the amblyopic eye, new research shows

Brain waves’ analog organization of cortex enables cognition and consciousness, MIT professor proposes at SfN

November 15, 2025
Picower People
On neuroscience’s big stage Nov. 15, MIT Professor Earl K. Miller proposed that thought and consciousness emerge from the fast and flexible organization of the cortex produced by the analog computations of brain waves.

Q&A: Picower researchers join effort to investigate the ‘Biology of Adversity’

November 3, 2025
New Research
Assistant Professor Sara Prescott and Research Affiliate Ravikiran Raju are key collaborators in a new Broad Institute research project to better understand physiological and medical effects of acute and chronic life stressors.

After distractions, rotating brain waves may help thought circle back to the task

November 3, 2025
Research Findngs
To get back on track after a distraction, the cortex appears to employ a rotating traveling wave, a new study by MIT neuroscientists finds.

Symposium examines the neural circuits that keep us alive and well

October 28, 2025
Picower Events
Seven speakers from around the country convened at MIT to describe some of the latest research on the neural mechanisms that we need to survive.

Small study suggests 40Hz sensory stimulation may benefit some Alzheimer’s patients for years

October 27, 2025
Research Findngs
Five volunteers continued receiving 40Hz stimulation for around two years after an early-stage MIT clinical study. Those with late-onset Alzheimer’s performed significantly better on assessments than comparable Alzheimer’s patients outside the trial

MIT-based team advances to semi-finals of Gates-funded competition to apply ’agentic’ AI to studying Alzheimer’s

October 21, 2025
New Research
“FINGERPRINT” proposes to use AI to link discovery, prevention, therapy by reasoning across multiple biological and clinical data sets.

Like radar, a brain wave sweeps a cortical region to read out information held in working memory

October 20, 2025
Research Findngs
When spotting what’s changed from one scene to the next, performance will depend on a low-frequency “theta” brain wave that scans the mental image, a new MIT study shows.

MIT invents human brain model with six major cell types to enable personalized disease research, drug discovery

October 17, 2025
Research Findngs
Cultured from induced pluripotent stem cells, ‘miBrains’ integrate all major brain cell types and model brain structures, cellular interactions, activity, and pathological features.

Study finds circular RNA helps drive brain development

October 16, 2025
Research Findngs
MIT neuroscientists show in a new study that loops of RNA can strongly influence how neurons build circuit connections, or synapses, during the development of the visual system in young mice.

Neural activity helps circuit connections mature into optimal signal transmitters

October 14, 2025
Research Findngs
By carefully tracking the formation and maturation of synaptic active zones in fruit flies, MIT scientists have discovered how neural activity helps circuit connections become tuned to the right size and degree of signal transmission